Barrett, J., dissenting
or in a timely postconviction-review petition. Ariz. Rule Crim. Proc. 32.2(a), 32.4(b)(3)(A) (2020). Rule 32.1(g) allows a second or delayed bite at the postconviction-relief apple when “there has been a significant change in the law that, if applicable to the defendant’s case, would probably overturn the defendant’s judgment or sentence.”
On several occasions, the Arizona Supreme Court has addressed whether an intervening judicial decision constitutes a “significant change in the law” for purposes of Rule 32.1(g). For instance, it has considered whether this Court’s decisions significantly changed the content of federal law. E.g., State v. Bigger, 251 Ariz. 402, 412, 492 P. 3d 1020, 1030 (2021) (a decision that “affirmed the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence” was not a significant change); State v. Valencia, 241 Ariz. 206, 209, 386 P. 3d 392, 395 (2016); see also State v. Poblete, 227 Ariz. 537, 540, 260 P. 3d 1102, 1105 (App. 2011). It has also analyzed whether intervening state-court decisions significantly changed Arizona law. E.g., State v. Shrum, 220 Ariz. 115, 119–120, 203 P. 3d 1175, 1179–1180 (2009); State v. Slemmer, 170 Ariz. 174, 179, 182, 823 P. 2d 41, 46, 49 (1991); State v. Rendon, 161 Ariz. 102, 104, 776 P. 2d 353, 355 (1989).
Cruz’s case, however, raised a question of first impression: whether a “significant change” occurs when an intervening decision reaffirms existing law, but rectifies an erroneous application of that law. That was the effect of Lynch v. Arizona, 578 U. S. 613 (2016) (per curiam), which corrected the Arizona Supreme Court’s application of Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U. S. 154 (1994) (plurality opinion), and its progeny. An intervening decision like Lynch, which undisputedly did not change any legal doctrine, has no analog in Arizona’s Rule 32.1(g) jurisprudence. See ante, at 6 (Lynch “reaffirm[ed] that Simmons applies in Arizona” (emphasis added)). So the Arizona Supreme Court devised a rule: “Rule 32.1(g) requires a significant change in the law, whether state or federal—not a significant
